Political Science

Question #1: What outcomes (from a GER program) should all BSC graduates gain in your field of study?

• BSC graduates should know and understand
  1. that politics is an integral aspect of human existence,
  2. that it involves collectivities making authoritative decisions about the production and allocation of scarce resources,
  3. that conflict is a normal concomitant of this process of decision-making, and therefore,
  4. politics also involves the management of conflict, occasionally through violence and war but normally through peaceful means.
     
• Comparative politics is the study of these essential elements of politics across cultures, societies and over time
• International Relations is the study of these essential elements at the global level

Question #2: What outcomes should majors in your department gain from a general education program?

Political science majors should know and understand the intellectual foundati(,n, conceptual framework and the methodologies that govern how different disciplines study and understand their substantive contents

Besides the usual litany of things one would normally say (e.g., critical thinking, sound communication skills, students should take the following away from PO 172 (the only GER that I will talk about since that is the only one I teach:

1. precise understanding of the U.S. Constitution--including its development and refinement over time and the specific processes and structures it establishes (which means a firm understanding of how Congress, the Executive, and the Courts do business).
2. the constitutional exam should be administered in PO 172, NOT in an history course.
3. the notion that politics is a battle over which values will be codified in public policy--which means that a discussion of core political, social, and economic values is in order. The course should discuss such concepts as freedom, order, and equality, as well as a variety of philosophical positions one can adopt concerning them.
4. an understanding that political science is the rational, systematic study of political phenomenon, not ad hoc story telling. This should be self-evident to students when topics such as political participation (e.g., model of who votes), partisanship, public opinion, and elite behavior (e.g., voting behavior of Supreme Court justices) are covered.
5. the key theories used by political scientists to study politics, including rational choice, socio-psychological, and institutional approaches.
6. a BASIC understanding of research methods, including polling and survey research, data presentation (e.g., a bell- curve), and bi and multivariate analysis (e.g., two-variable scatter plot; an intuitive understanding of multivariate analysis-- with NO math).

If students are going to think intelligently about politics--and the world in general--they need to know these things! The particularly need to know them if they are going to be school teachers!! This course should not be a simple repeat of high school civics--it is college after all.

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